


A Little Experimentation

by Mars_McKie



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Bondage, Light Sadism, M/M, Non-Consensual Tickling, Teasing, Tickle torture, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 22:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20460683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_McKie/pseuds/Mars_McKie
Summary: Ardyn becomes easily bored waiting for the Empire to make its move, making him something of a distraction in Verstael's lab. The scientist suggests an experiment to alleviate the boredom.





	A Little Experimentation

“_Oh Verstael~!_”

The scientist flinched minutely as Ardyn’s sing song voice carried through the lab, his eyes refusing to leave the instrument he was currently staring down into. Ardyn grinned wider as he strode into the lab, singing “_Versty, Versty, Versty!_”

“Yes, Ardyn?” Verstael asked irritably, not looking up.

“What are you doing?”

Verstael Besithia gritted his teeth. “I’m working.”

“I can see that. What are you working on?”

It was over five months since Ardyn had woken up in Verstael’s care, liberated from nearly two millennia of imprisonment; over five months since he was given the promise of getting revenge on those of Somnus’s line who had continued his gruelling sentence.

It was over five months, and now that Ardyn was regaining his concept of time things were moving far too slow for his taste.

Verstael took a steadying breath before he saw fit to respond, “I’m recording the rate with which the plasmodia germinates within a synthetic organism-”

“Speak plainly, please,” Ardyn groaned. Verstael’s over-complicated ramblings were still capable of making his head spin.

Ardyn saw Verstael’s knuckles go white as he clutched at the instrument. “I’m recording how the Starscourge might develop inside a person grown within a lab, with regard to at what stage miasma is then produced by observing it under the microscope. Was that plain enough for you?”

“Oh, like this?” Ardyn detected the scourge within the instrument, and with his powers caused the plasmodia to spread. Verstael leapt back from it in shock.

“Ardyn, you’re skewing the outcome of the experiment!” Verstael cried, but his thin eyebrows narrowed as he regarded the man stood in front of him. “What did you do?”

“Do you like it?” Ardyn asked flirtatiously, whipping his hand through his newly cut shoulder-length hair. “Given I’ve had it long for two millennia I thought it about time for a change and since it was getting on my nerves-”

“You saw fit to cut your hair?”

“I’m bored, Versty!” Ardyn exclaimed.

“These things take time, Ardyn,” Verstael explained, his tone clipped. “Emperor Aldercapt has given me the green light for my experiments to use plasmodia in the Magitek Infantry, and your presence has thrown my research wide open. I can now experiment on the miasma in ways I was not capable of before-”

“The Emperor enjoyed your performance with those soldiers last week,” Ardyn said offhandedly. “Let me go into the kingdom that Somnus built and I will bring the line of Lucis to its knees for you.”

“There is much to prepare before we are ready to launch an attack on Insomnia,” Verstael countered. “Did you read the information I compiled for you?”

“Yes,” Ardyn groaned. All sixty four essays worth. While the contents were very interesting, they had left Ardyn lacking any sort of contact while he studied them. He was fully capable of reading for hours into the night without realising what time had passed in his room which only went dark if he turned off the light himself, but during his time in the labs he had grown attached to the days spent with the scientist. And the nights.

“Good,” was all Verstael had to say to that before he turned back to the microscope. Ardyn huffed, determined to cause some more harmless mischief to earn the scientist’s attention.

Affecting an illusion, he assumed the form of Verstael -with his thin face, blonde hair, little goatee and lab coat- and peered down into another instrument as he cried, “Look at me, I’m Verstael! I do lots of important science-y stuff with miasma and germinating and microscopes!”

“Ardyn!” Verstael glared over at him, and Ardyn smirked.

“Yes, dearest?”

“You’re distracting me.”

“That is my intention!” Ardyn grinned. Verstael shot him another dark look and once again attempted to resume his experiment. Ardyn dropped the illusion and walked over to Verstael, considered his target, then rested his arms over Verstael’s shoulders and huffed. His breath caused several strands of blonde hair to wave about and Ardyn huffed again, enjoying how they played about, breathing so that the hair danced until Verstael was unable to ignore him any longer.

“Since you insist on drawing my attention,” Verstael said, his tone irate. “I propose an experiment, if you’re willing to be a subject.”

“Hm, you know I love your thought process very much,” Ardyn hummed, finally satisfied with the direction the conversation was going in. Verstael stood up and led Ardyn through to another room, decorated like the rest of the labs in a minimal clinical fashion with a large metal table set in the centre. Cuffs were set into the four corners with a row of lamps set above and through previous experiments Ardyn knew that Verstael had developed these lamps to be able to negate the miasma he exuded.

“If you’d be so kind as to remove your jacket, trousers and boots and lay on the table,” Verstael directed. “You may leave your underwear on,” he added as he saw Ardyn’s thumbs hook under his trousers into the band of his underwear.

“That’s not what you said last night,” Ardyn teased, and he saw a flush rise to Verstael’s face- that made it score one to him. Ardyn did as instructed and made a show of stripping until he was in his underwear (Verstael pretended to be checking the lamps though several times Ardyn caught him sneaking a peek. Score two to Ardyn) then laid down on the table.

“I do enjoy when you see fit to tie me down!” Ardyn smirked.

“It’s for science, Ardyn,” Verstael replied, though Ardyn detected a hint of smugness to it.

With a luxurious moan, Ardyn stretched out his limbs and Verstael moved swiftly to cuff them to the four corners, until his subject was secured in place. With a flick of the switch, Verstael turned on the miasma-cancelling lamps and Ardyn felt the Starscourge reeling slightly under his skin, though the light did not sting like that of the sun. They knew the lamps wouldn’t affect him healing if he needed to, but it added a new dynamic to the experimenting table when Ardyn knew he couldn’t use the powers gifted to him by the Starscourge to escape.

“Comfortable?” Verstael asked.

“Exceedingly,” Ardyn replied with a self-satisfied smile, happy he was finally being given the attention he deserved. “What fun tests did you have planned for today?”

Verstael withdrew from the table to a row of low cabinets set against the long wall. From it, he took out a long, thin instrument attached by a wire to some form of battery pack, and one of his recording devices.

“Research log: Year 722, Day 79,” Verstael said into the device. “Though I concluded my preliminary tests on Adagium last month, the subject is proving disruptive in his restlessness-”

“Oi!” Ardyn cried.

“-Becoming headstrong and annoying, resorting to childish means of gaining my attention-”

“That’s not fair!” Ardyn pouted, indignant at his teasing.

“As such,” Verstael continued with a small side glance and smirk to Ardyn’s response. “I am conducting a test of his pain receptors, to see how his nerves might react without causing a rise from the miasma.”

“Oh?” Ardyn hummed, suddenly interested.

“The information is hardly valuable to me, but it might prove useful to you,” Verstael said to Ardyn, setting the recording device on the side and moving back to the table with the rod. “While your body is all but impervious to attack, it might yet be possible to momentarily detain you through other means.”

“That could be unfortunate,” Ardyn agreed.

“This device will cause a mild shock which will feel like a sting,” Verstael said, holding up the rod. “This will help us to understand how your body might react when being attacked by lightning.”

“How considerate of you!”

Verstael pursed his lips and the battery pack hummed as he switched it on. “Standard procedure- you will need to inform me of your state at each point.”

“Current state- mildly aroused by your formal manner!”

Verstael shot him another glare. “I would like for _some_ of this research to be catalogued for future reference.” He touched the tip of the rod to Ardyn’s right palm. His hand flexed at the weak shock.

“Did you turn it on?” Ardyn asked. “That barely tingled.”

“I’m turning the setting up to nine,” Verstael reported. He touched the rod to Ardyn’s palm again and this time the tingle ran right down his arm, causing him to shudder minutely.

“Hm, I felt that,” Ardyn said, smug with his high tolerance to pain. “Definitely tingled.”

Verstael continued jabbing the rod at points down his arm, satisfied with Ardyn’s continued replies, until the rod tapped close to Ardyn’s armpit and he shuddered in alarm, his eyes wide at the sensation.

“Ardyn?” Verstael asked, but Ardyn pressed his mouth firmly shut. “Ardyn, did that hurt?”

“No,” Ardyn muttered.

Regarding him with a questioning eye, Verstael hesitated before touching the rod to the top of Ardyn’s armpit and once again Ardyn jumped with a muffled squeak.

“Ardyn, that clearly wasn’t nothing,” Verstael stated. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just...” Ardyn cleared his throat, not wanting to admit it but seeing no other alternative. “It tickled.”

Verstael flushed almost as bright as Ardyn at his admittance. It took a moment for him to compose himself, then the scientist asked, “_Really?_”

There was something mischievous in his tone and Ardyn hastened to say, “Wait, Verstael!” but the scientist was already tapping the tip of the rod in quick succession down Ardyn’s ribs, the tingling jolts sending ticklish waves through his torso and he let slip a loud “_Eep!_” before he could silence himself, pressing his lips together as he tried to fight back laughter.

“I never took you for the type to be ticklish, Ardyn,” Verstael said, pausing in his assault on Ardyn’s ribs.

“It’s... not something I considered myself...” Ardyn admitted when he could be sure his voice was steady. The most he could compare it to was when he and Somnus had been on better terms as young children and Ardyn would tickle his younger, smaller brother who was too busy laughing to fight back. He was suddenly very aware of how Verstael was regarding his body and how much of him was on display, perfectly exposed.

“It was your armpits where you first felt it...” Verstael mused.

“_Versty no!_” Ardyn cried even as Verstael tapped the rod repeatedly against his right armpit. Ardyn buried his face in his arm in an attempt to muffle the giggles now escaping from his lips, his whole body shaking with the force of it.

“And for the sake of comparison...” Verstael said. The shocking tickles stopped and Ardyn chanced looking up, seeing Verstael removing his gloves.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Ardyn shouted.

Verstael smirked as he dragged his short nails down Ardyn’s neglected left side, tracing over his ribs and causing Ardyn to squirm, then drove his fingertips into the spaces between his ribs to rapidly tickle him. Ardyn let slip another round of giggles until Verstael stopped again. His fingers were now flexing inches away from Ardyn’s armpits.

“_Versty!_” Ardyn whined pitifully. It was a noise he would never admit to making after the matter was concluded.

“Now for comparison, I need you to tell me which one tickles more,” Verstael smirked, and Ardyn noticed the torturous rod in his other hand. He barely had time to compose himself before Verstael’s fingers were tickling at his left hollow and the rod was making his right pit tingle. It was impossible for him to tell which one tickled more, only that he was shaking his head and shrieking wildly as tears ran down his cheeks, unable to escape the tickle torture being inflicted on him.

It was some minutes before Verstael eased up, allowing Ardyn to get his breath back.

“Aren’t you glad you now have my attention?” Verstael teased.

“Oh, let me out of these restraints and you’ll see how well I like your attention,” Ardyn glowered threateningly, his hands grasping at thin air. “I’ll have you pinned down and find all of your ticklish spots until you’re begging, and see how you like it!”

“Begging, you say?” Verstael hummed. “Now there’s a thought...”

“What? Wait, no!” Ardyn exclaimed, realising his mistake.

“How long do I have to tickle you before you beg me to stop?”

Verstael scribbled his hand across Ardyn’s stomach and his body wiggled, attempting in vain to move away from the twitchy fingers, and Ardyn could do little more than throw back his head and laugh.

“Verstael! You’re mean!” Ardyn managed to howl around his laughter.

“It’s for science, Ardyn!” Verstael jeered, taking his time switching between his fingers and the tickling rod against Ardyn's belly, his ribs, the insides of his thighs...

And then it stopped. Ardyn looked up through tears to see Verstael moving down the table.

Towards his bare feet.

“No, no!” Ardyn cried, and he tried to summon up the scourge within him to mount a defence, but remembered he was unable to release it from his body while underneath the lamps. He panicked, his wrists and ankles twisted in their bindings but Verstael easily grabbed hold of his toes to pull them back and prod down his soles with that cursed contraption. The tickling sensation travelled up his body and Ardyn’s laugh was like a scream as Verstael took his time tapping out the most ticklish spots, before switching to Ardyn’s other foot to see if those spots would be in the same places.

“Versty!” Ardyn groaned breathlessly around his laughter, accepting that his pride had taken a battering. “No more! _Please!_”

“What was that?” Verstael asked, his fingers trailing idly over Ardyn’s soles in the wake of the rod, causing Ardyn to jump at his touch.

“Please, no more!” Ardyn moaned, turning red as he was forced to repeat his plea.

Verstael considered Ardyn for a long moment, before untying the cuffs around his ankles. Ardyn closed his eyes and breathed a long sigh of relief as he moved his legs, easing out the dull ache even as the phantoms of tickling jolts travelled up from his feet, causing him to giggle lightly. He waited for his wrists to also be freed, but after several moments of nothing Ardyn opened his eyes and turned his head to see Verstael standing over him, a sadistic smirk across his lips.

“Do you promise to leave me to my research while I’m working?” Verstael asked, tapping the rod to Ardyn’s side.

“Eep! Yes!” Ardyn cried, shaking tears from his eyes.

“And you won’t disturb me?” Verstael continued, with each point tapping the rod up Ardyn’s ribs. “Or distract me? Or do anything to skew the outcome of my research?”

Despite his legs being free, Ardyn was too exhausted to mount any kind of defence, instead whining, “Yeeees!”

Verstael smirked triumphantly, and finally walked to the head of the head of the table to release Ardyn’s wrists. Ardyn laid where he was for a long moment until Verstael tapped the rod to his armpit again, causing Ardyn to shriek and curl in on himself protectively.

“My experiment has been concluded,” Verstael said into the recording device. “The results are highly satisfying and the subject has been pacified.”

Verstael touched the rod to Ardyn’s exposed soles, making him jump and giggle before the sadistic man turned off the lamps and left him on the table to return to the lab. Ardyn remained there for some time, his body a twitchy mess as he giggled at the ticklish waves that would spasm through his limbs. It took some hours before he moved from that position, finally having enough agency over his body to roll onto his hands and knees.

He grinned as he regained control, then climbed down from the table -his legs shaking as they supported his weight- and started towards the lab. There was a scientist in need of retribution, and Ardyn was only too happy to give it.

**Author's Note:**

> Ardyn and Verstael is such a fun dynamic, though I have so many fics planned out already *looks at my long list* I hope I get to write something with these two again!


End file.
